Latest / Real Money with Lisa Chastain / Why Teacher Engagement Creates a Ripple Effect of SUCCESS in Schools | REAL MONEY

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Why Teacher Engagement Creates a Ripple Effect of SUCCESS in Schools | REAL MONEY · Real Money with Lisa Chastain

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  Education today isn't just about teaching kids math or reading.
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  It's become politicized, weaponized, and it's stripping
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  us of our humanity. the US spent nearly $947 billion on K through
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  12 public education last year, and a staggering 1.64 trillion
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  across all educational levels. That's 5.6% of our GDP, more
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  than most developed countries. And yet, despite all investment,
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  students, teachers and parents are struggling.
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  My guest today, Doctor Stacy Herrera and Sandy Herrera, are
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  disrupting the system with their movement Humanized Edu.
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  They're asking the question, what if education actually put
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  humans 1st? And they're proving that
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  disruption is not only good, it's essential.
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  Today you'll learn why disruption in education is
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  necessary and why it's a good thing.
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  What it really means to put the human back into schools, how
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  proactive solutions are addressing the student mental
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  health crisis, why brain wired strengths are shaping the future
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  of learning, and what you as parents can do today to be a
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  part of the solution. Today we're going to talk about
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  how Stacey and Sandy are birthing a movement of
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  humanizing education along with their new book, Unpacking Bliss,
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  so that joy, self trust, and connection are shaping safer and
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  more empowered schools. You've got to be here for this
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  conversation. Let's get it started.
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  Today I want to highlight our guest starting with Doctor Stacy
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  Herrera. She's a licensed psychologist,
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  founder and thought leader, reshaping education with
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  strengths based and neuroscience driven solutions and her sister
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  Sandy Herrera, education innovator and CEO, transforming
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  school culture to help both students and teachers thrive.
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  Welcome to the show. Let's get it started.
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  Here we are. Hi, here we are.
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  Hi. Hi.
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  From all over the planet. One from Florida, one from
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  Vegas. What state are you in?
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  Portsmouth. I'm in Maine.
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  Maine, I don't know where any of those.
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  I've never been to any of those states, so my brain does not.
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  Orient well, you need to visit. That's that's what I'm hearing
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  is you need to visit. Yes, I will be in this beautiful
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  place at least for the rest of this calendar year.
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  You need to make time. Seed is planted yes Stacey and
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  Sandy, I I was very intentional with choosing you for this
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  season for this conversation and for my listeners, I have
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  interviewed individually Stacey and Sandy.
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  So if you want to get to know them on a deeper level, their
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  money journey, we can. You can go, you can go down that
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  rabbit hole. In this episode today, we're
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  talking about how these amazing, brilliant women's worlds have
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  collided professionally. Now they're sisters.
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  So we see Herrera, Sandy Herrera are sisters, cats out of the bag
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  on that one. And not only are they sisters,
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  but they're best friends. If you follow them on Instagram
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  or any of social media outlets, you'll see them literally
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  travelling the world together. They've written a book together
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  talking about unpacking bliss as this all relates to their
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  company, which they have brought their worlds together to form
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  humanized Edu. So what I, what I first want to
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  do is talk about setting the stage of education and what the
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  state of education is today as you see it, both of you.
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  And then we'll talk about why humanized Edu is so important
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  today, now more than ever. And then we're going to talk
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  about unpacking bliss and how people can learn from you in
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  their own journeys in in particular, educators create
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  more bliss in their lives because right now education is
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  it's tough out there. Can we just call it a hot mess?
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  It's a hot mess. It's.
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  A hot mess, yeah. Sandy and Stacy were you?
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  You were both together in Minnesota.
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  We were. Recently, yeah.
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  And down the street, there was a school shooting.
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  Yeah. At a Catholic school.
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  I mean, what the hell is going on?
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  There were. There were two, actually.
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  We spent a full day with almost 200 educators in an another
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  Catholic school network of schools that we're we're working
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  with this entire year. And it was our first trip to
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  Minnesota. And we had the opportunity to be
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  with all four of the schools as well as their central office
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  team for the entire day. And at the end of that day,
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  there was a shooting across the street from one of the schools
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  that they actually feed into. And then the following morning
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  there was a shooting that was at the school that was about 1/2
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  mile away from the place we were staying.
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  And we were, we spent that day with the other Minnesota
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  Institute for trauma informed education coaches that we're
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  working with this entire year. They're doing trauma informed
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  education for the Ascension Academy schools that we're
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  working with. And so we had that day, that
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  Wednesday, we were all together holding space, planning forward,
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  you know, what is within our control, How can we make a
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  difference? We're all so committed to
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  proactively solving this mental health crisis that we're facing
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  in the, The thing is that the, the piece that I don't believe
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  is getting enough attention is the mental health crisis of our
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  teachers, not, not just classroom teachers, like
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  educators as a whole, even our support professionals.
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  And it's, it's a ripple of impact that we're not paying
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  attention to in a way where if we don't get proactive with
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  this, we're going to continue having Band-Aid conversations.
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  I mean, we can have conversations about cell phones.
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  We can have conversations about bullying.
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  We can have conversations about suicide prevention, about, you
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  know, guns. We can, we can have all those
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  conversations. They're important.
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  And if we don't also, and more importantly, swim upstream and
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  get proactive with solving our mental health crisis in our
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  schools, as a society, we're not actually growing and healing.
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  And yeah, you know, we just wholeheartedly believe that it's
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  that's where that's where the focus needs to be is let's swim
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  upstream and get proactive together.
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  Get proactive together. You're both individually.
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  We're on this mission professionally.
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  Sandy, you were working with school educators through.
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  Remind me of the company name again, Because in a minute.
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  Yeah. Educator Dynamics.
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  That's right. And that's when we met.
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  That's when we met in 20/17/2018.
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  You were getting Educator dynamics off the ground,
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  nurturing, supporting educators, not just teachers,
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  administrators from the highest levels down to say we have to
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  create school cultures based on values, based on supportive
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  learning, based on brain wired strengths.
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  And then on the flip side, Stacey, you were you were
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  birthing your child psychology career.
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  You had gotten your doctorate, and at some point the three of
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  us had a conversation and we were like, why don't you just
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  pull it all together? Because you're doing the same.
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  You're doing the same work with different people.
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  And this is how humanized Edu was born.
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  So we actually had piloted it with one charter school here in
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  Florida and, and what we began to recognize is when you address
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  the needs of the adults in the building, it was so much easier
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  to talk about and support the social emotional needs of the
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  children. And so really the, the
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  conversation between the three of us was, was a big why, why
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  not? And, and loved your support
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  during that, Lisa, to just be like, which is it's just a
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  weaving of the teams and a weaving of the money and just,
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  and we woven it all together. It's it's been an incredible
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  journey. And we're only just starting.
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  We really are on on a mission to create a movement right to
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  create psychologically safe, thriving working and learning
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  environments in our schools and. Doesn't that sound like a no
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  brainer though? Wouldn't I mean so for for
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  parents, for people outside of education?
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  What? What do you mean that's not in
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  existence? What do you mean that doesn't
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  already exist? Wouldn't you assume that that
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  happens? But from both of your point of
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  views, the answer's no. Why?
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  Well, I think the pandemic really highlighted the lack of
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  psychological safety in a, in a number of areas throughout our
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  society. And so we began to look at how
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  do we intentionally create psychological safety?
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  And right now we're recognizing the the barriers to that, right?
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  Because often we're looking downstream, we're looking at
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  attendance, we're looking at retention, we're looking at
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  graduation rates rate. And how do we, to Sandy's point,
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  get upstream and really begin to intentionally create
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  environments where all of those things, all of those data sets
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  will rise, will allow us to see that we are making a difference?
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  But as we know in preventative work, it takes a lot of really
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  intentionally passionate people. It's gonna be like, no, we're
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  doing it this way. We're done catching and pulling
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  out of the river at the Rivers Bend, right?
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  We're going upstream. Right, the very same
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  conversation that you're having as a united front in your book
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  on packing bliss with humanized Edu, with helping educators and
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  cultures work toward brain educational environments that
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  support kids and people based on their brain wired strengths.
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  Everything that you're speaking into is in education is what I'm
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  doing with money saying no, no, no, no.
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  I just had a guy he he like came at me on, on LinkedIn because I
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  talked about how money is emotional before it's logical.
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  And he's like, no, well, isn't this what we're talking about in
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  education, that it needs to be psychologically safe before
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  anything? But hearing you say swimming
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  upstream, you are literally swimming upstream right now in
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  the world of education. Not only the world of education,
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  but the world of education that is dismantling and
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  disintegrating before our eyes. And so those kind of pre
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  programmed ideas of like how money flows for professional
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  development are new. And so trying to find new ways
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  to support this movement is really where we're at right now.
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  We're so thankful to be partnering with a, with a couple
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  of very forward thinking companies who are like, no, I
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  understand that in order to have my business thrive in the
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  future, I need to backtrack and go to the educational system so
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  that I know that I can have the neurosurges of the future so
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  that I know that I can have the the plumbers of the future.
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  How can we do that? Well, we have to have spaces
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  where children are learning. And how do we learn when we're
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  in a relaxed, supportive environment that is naturally
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  psychologically safe, so we can challenge our thinking and try
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  new things. But that's not how the system
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  was designed, no. In, in the system over the years
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  has had so many cooks in the kitchen, so to speak.
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  Or it's like, no, we should do it this way.
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  No, we should do it that way. And it's like new thing
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  implementation, new thing implementation.
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  And before you know it, the educators are like, no, like
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  this is not. And yet then then that's how
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  they're evaluated and then that's how they're paid.
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  And then that's how. And so then you start to mess
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  with their Maslow's hierarchy and they can't even breathe.
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  And yet despite all of that, they're showing up for their
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  students this weekend. I was coaching our our culture
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  and well-being coach certification cohort.
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  And we've got a a second grade teacher in there and he's
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  talking about how the the world outside is so much.
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  And yet he has this one student who was just disruptive a lot
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  and he threw to his credit as an educator.
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  He goes, I just started hanging out closer to him, wasn't in his
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  space, wasn't trying to just Co regulating through being close
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  to it. We we know all the terms for it.
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  And he said slowly he started wanting to come to school and he
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  was like, this is fun. I want to come because I want to
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  be in your class. And it's like, yes, just that
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  just for teachers to recognize that and, and they do, they know
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  it. Yet when so much pressure is put
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  on themselves, they've got this vice grip around their head.
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  They're not free to do what they intuitively know how to do, what
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  they've been trained how to do, which is to help children thrive
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  in all aspects of life so that they can learn.
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  And when we ask teachers, what's the number one thing you would
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  love for your students to walk away with when they leave your
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  school? Nothing has to do with what?
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  What is 2 + 2 or what is this algebraic equation or what is
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  this whatever it's everything has to do with to be resilient,
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  to know that they love learning, to know that they like.
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  Everything has to do with mindset.
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  Everything has to do with their emotional well-being, with their
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  sense of being psychologically safe as a human being, to be
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  their unique word selves. It's amazing.
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  It's amazing. It makes so much sense and we
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  are so far off track. How did we get off track?
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  Because we're attempting to quantify success and learning.
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  And so we pulled away from the love of learning that we are all
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  hardwired for. Our brains love to learn new
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  things. We know this because we're
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  constantly comparing ourselves to our future vision, right?
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  We're always like, well, what else can I learn?
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  What else can I do? And when it's in alignment with
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  our passion, when it's in alignment with our higher
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  purpose, it just flows and it makes sense.
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  And school has become this very structure that you must learn
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  all of these things and you must be good at all of these things.
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  And when you're not and when you can't show up with this love of
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  learning for something that just leaves a taste in your mouth,
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  like educators know how to bring all of these things to life.
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  But to Sandys point, the mandates and you should do it
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  this way and every classroom should be at this particular
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  page at this particular time, right?
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  Are attempts to make it a factory or use the Industrial
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  Revolution way of like putting everybody on a conveyor belt and
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  they're just going to walk away with their little diploma and
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  then everybody's going to be prepared to work on the conveyor
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  belt as we move forward. It's just, it's not, it's not
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  going to benefit the children of the future.
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  It's not going to benefit us as business owners in the future.
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  It's not benefiting anybody now. It's not betting any anybody now
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  and so there. Are pockets, at least I don't
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  want to say there aren't. There are pockets, right, of
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  these glimmers of like, oh, this classroom that just revolves
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  around this one teacher or this little tiny school that like has
• 15:13
  figured this one thing out. There are so many pockets.
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  But you're right, it's not it's across the board.
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  The numbers are not like wow. Is it a responsibility question?
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  Is it a, and I see this, I see this a lot with money and people
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  putting this conversation, inserting this conversation into
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  schools. And I'm, I'm far removed.
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  My kids are in school right now. But in, in terms of the, the
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  conversation we're having right now, I'm out of, I'm out of it
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  in terms of looking at it as like, how do we solve this
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  problem is that people are like, well, we need to teach financial
• 15:45
  education in schools. And I say, Hey, hey, hold on a
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  minute. Like what job is the school
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  really? Because it seems like it's now
• 15:55
  the school's job to raise the kid, to teach them how to blow
• 15:59
  their nose, to feed them. Whose job?
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  What is the job of the school now?
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  Or what are you saying? So in this disruptive season,
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  women, women across the board in the world, or we're just, we're
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  just disrupting a lot. But what do you believe the job
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  of schools should be? Ignite the love of learning.
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  In all aspects. All aspects so that we can
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  thrive as humans. To to offer that, that variety
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  of experiences so that students can choose where their passion
• 16:28
  is and to find it and to foster it and to fuel it and encourage
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  it. We, we know there's so much
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  science around play, science of learning, and we learn through
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  doing and play and, and creativity.
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  And if we look at the future of the world, it isn't what it was
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  when the system of education began.
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  And yet we haven't evolved it. And until we actually empower
• 16:55
  and equip our educators, it's not going to happen.
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  And so what's happening is they're leaving the system of
• 17:00
  education and then they're going to help a child, a child at the
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  grocery store instead, because they can't not serve children.
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  And they're going, they're going to work at Starbucks, they're
• 17:10
  going to work at other corporations and they're going
• 17:13
  into real estate. And they're like I, I thought I
• 17:15
  was meant to be a teacher, but I guess not.
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  You can see they're. Heartbreaking, right?
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  What they're communicating is that yes, they love children and
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  yes, they want to make an impact for children, but they don't
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  love the system of education that they're in.
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  And that's what you're here to do.
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  You're here to change that. What's the mental health cost of
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  keeping the current system the way it is?
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  What do you see happening real time and in the future if we
• 17:39
  just keep it the way it is? We're seeing, we're seeing the
• 17:43
  increase, the the number one cause of death for children is
• 17:48
  guns. Really.
• 17:49
  Yeah. Come on.
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  Like, I can't. I can't.
• 17:53
  Like, yeah. Speaking of radical ownership,
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  for we get to do better. We get to do better right now,
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  and we know how. How, how?
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  How you have the answer? What is the answer?
• 18:05
  So someone's give me the answer, help me solve the test.
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  What's the answer you guys? We actually create
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  psychologically safe containers for people to to be their
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  authentic selves. We celebrate what is working.
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  We stop focusing on what isn't working.
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  We stop focusing on, you know, thinking people are broken or
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  think, no, every human is perfect exactly how they are.
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  And when we start celebrating each other's gifts and we start
• 18:31
  focusing on what is working, we get more of that.
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  We know that and yet in the system of education, it's like,
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  oh look, this is broken, That's broken, that's broken, that's
• 18:40
  not good enough, that's not enough, not enough.
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  And we're breaking out the shame bat so that not only the
• 18:45
  teachers, but the students are like, oh, I'm not good enough,
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  I'm not good enough. If I'm not good at all five
• 18:49
  classes and I have straight A's, then I'm a bad person.
• 18:51
  You have 5 classes, you have 4A's and AD.
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  What do we focus on? We harp on the D better get good
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  at that when who we naturally are as humans is we're good at
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  what we're good at. So why don't we Foster and fuel
• 19:02
  that and your love of learning? And that's your personalized
• 19:05
  learning journey that you get to discover.
• 19:07
  And it's just like with money personalities, we're not all the
• 19:11
  same. We don't all navigate money in
• 19:12
  the same way. It's not cookie cutter.
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  So why is learning cookie cutter?
• 19:16
  Why is development cookie? It's not.
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  And yet for some reason we feel like we should be forced into
• 19:22
  making it that. And so if we can just let go and
• 19:27
  trust in humans, hire well and get out of the way.
• 19:31
  Hire well and get out of the way.
• 19:33
  That's a great segue, Sandy, to the mission of humanized Edu.
• 19:37
  Help someone understand the dynamics of humanized Edu.
• 19:42
  So first of all, I mean, any listener I would think is like,
• 19:45
  well, isn't education human? Not well, especially as we're
• 19:49
  talking about AI and things coming down the road, It's easy
• 19:52
  to lose sight of that. And what you're saying is some
• 19:54
  of the metrics, some of the ways that in my words, education has
• 19:58
  been politicized and weaponized and all the things that
• 20:03
  humanized. Edu came forward to say it's
• 20:05
  not. And here's the formula.
• 20:08
  What's the formula? It's our Me we school model is
• 20:11
  the formula is that when we flip systems like the MTSS triangle
• 20:16
  and Stacey can describe that when we flip it on its head and
• 20:19
  we focus on the individual first and we focus on who we show up
• 20:23
  as. Because the culture in any
• 20:26
  environment, not just in schools, the culture of your
• 20:28
  home, the culture of your church group, the culture of your
• 20:31
  business culture anywhere is the collective capacity of who
• 20:34
  everyone shows up as. That's what culture is.
• 20:37
  There's no culture in MP building.
• 20:39
  So if it's a collective capacity of who everyone shows up as,
• 20:42
  then it has to be about who everyone shows up as.
• 20:44
  So if we're honoring and celebrating the individuality of
• 20:47
  who everyone shows up as and their gifts that they bring to
• 20:49
  the table on their best day, and we create that collective in the
• 20:54
  we level of this is who we are. And this is how we do things
• 20:56
  here. Because we've designed it that
• 20:58
  way. Because we've done it on
• 20:59
  purpose, Not because we've always done it that way or
• 21:02
  because we're supposed to or because we should.
• 21:03
  Because we need to break out the shame that no, it's because we
• 21:07
  designed it that way because it works for us, because it's
• 21:09
  aligned to our core values of who we are on our best day, not
• 21:12
  who we're striving to be. That we get to drop into the
• 21:15
  present moment and know you're good enough right now.
• 21:18
  And if you're working out of values alignment, you're
• 21:21
  speaking through that lens and going, OK, well, you're out of
• 21:24
  values alignment. Now we can have values
• 21:25
  conversation and get back in alignment with your core values
• 21:28
  versus a you're a bad person conversation.
• 21:31
  And we need to worry about discipline, yes, but through the
• 21:34
  lens of why it's violating the core value.
• 21:37
  And how do you have those healthy, conscious conversations
• 21:41
  for adults and students and that they're all playing by the same
• 21:44
  rules? Not in a way where we're putting
• 21:47
  mom against Dad, so to speak. Right, right.
• 21:50
  Where does data fall into all of this, Stacy?
• 21:53
  The data behind our movement. Yeah.
• 21:56
  So there's a lot of data right now we that in your, in your
• 21:59
  words, the system of education real time is disintegrating and
• 22:04
  the there's data to support that.
• 22:06
  When individuals are acknowledged, when talents are
• 22:09
  acknowledged, when people come together based on values, what
• 22:12
  kind of data are you seeing that supports it?
• 22:14
  Actually, this is the answer. This is the solution.
• 22:17
  I'd like to start with one data point and that is that we know
• 22:19
  over an educator's lifetime they impact approximately 3000
• 22:25
  students. So if we start with that one
• 22:27
  educator, we see the ripple of impact for the schools that have
• 22:31
  engaged with us. What we've seen is increased
• 22:34
  teacher retention, which not only helps the overall
• 22:38
  organization, but it helps each individual child.
• 22:42
  Why? Because children like to see the
• 22:44
  continuity. Because children like to know
• 22:47
  that they've had one key person that they've connected with and
• 22:51
  you're giving them multiple touch points because you have
• 22:54
  that same stuff. We're seeing increased
• 22:56
  graduation rates. Why?
• 22:58
  Because we're creating those environments where you feel a
• 23:02
  sense of belonging and you want to show up every day and you
• 23:06
  feel seen, heard and valued. And when you do, it's so easy to
• 23:14
  ask for help, to stretch your goals, to really ignite your
• 23:20
  inner passions. And so we're seeing a lot of
• 23:23
  great data. If you want to see some really
• 23:25
  specific numbers, go and check out our website.
• 23:28
  We are super excited about the impact that we are making and
• 23:32
  this year in particular, we are partnering with Eye Wellness.
• 23:36
  And Eye Wellness has a very awesome tool that surveys all of
• 23:41
  the students at a tier one level and then allows the teachers and
• 23:45
  the schools to be responsive to the five questions that they're
• 23:49
  checking in on. And so then they begin to
• 23:52
  recognize, oh, is it an individual student problem?
• 23:55
  Is it a classroom problem? It is a school wide problem.
• 23:58
  And then we're coming in with that professional development
• 24:01
  because once you assess something, it's important to use
• 24:04
  that data to then move the needle somewhere.
• 24:09
  Right. So really partnering with other
• 24:11
  organizations that are that are like minded and wrapping around
• 24:14
  schools as we all figure out what the structure of school
• 24:18
  looks like in the next 5 years. It's, it's really important that
• 24:22
  we collaborate and work together around this and become that
• 24:28
  humanize or or the center, knowing that the human is at the
• 24:34
  center and AI is a tool towards that.
• 24:38
  Correct. AI just supports us, facilitates
• 24:41
  all the things. Yeah, but it doesn't become the
• 24:46
  the middle, the humans in the middle.
• 24:47
  And I love what you said about that.
• 24:50
  Let's let's shift gears to the book then, because you're you're
• 24:55
  doing, I think, I think the words that you used is you're
• 24:58
  swimming upstream right now. And that has to happen.
• 25:02
  And at some point, well, you'll reverse it.
• 25:05
  When humanized Edu is successful, it will create a new
• 25:08
  flow and A and a new way of being.
• 25:11
  But right now it's swimming. You're swimming upstream and,
• 25:14
  and ultimately Sandy, I've heard you talk about this over and
• 25:16
  over and over again. This is exactly where we align
• 25:18
  is that positive people perform, happy people perform.
• 25:23
  And the answer and the solution to all of this is joy and love
• 25:29
  of learning. And we've lost that.
• 25:32
  And especially if you listen to the news, Oh my God, right.
• 25:34
  We've lost that sense of joy and wonder.
• 25:37
  So unpacking bliss was born as a result of your story, but then
• 25:42
  also saying, Hey, educators, people, if you want more
• 25:48
  success, start with happiness, not more money, not more
• 25:52
  anything. Let's talk about the book.
• 25:54
  What does the book mean for you? Why does someone have to read
• 25:56
  the book? Want.
• 25:57
  To go to states. It's such an opportunity to sit
• 26:01
  and reflect and remember those blissful moments make up an
• 26:07
  entire lifetime. And if you had a chance to
• 26:11
  intentionally dive in, unpack all of the things that we packed
• 26:17
  into our beautiful suitcases over the years and be
• 26:20
  intentional about what you put back in.
• 26:22
  That's my hope for a reader of the book is that they're able to
• 26:26
  really see, OK, this is what I've collected along the way and
• 26:30
  what is what is serving me now and weaving in some neuroscience
• 26:35
  in there and, and some other really cool tools that Sandy and
• 26:38
  I have picked up along the way. But it's, it's just an
• 26:41
  opportunity to do a personal deep dive.
• 26:44
  And when the world feels so uncertain, you need to create
• 26:48
  certainty. And how do we do that?
• 26:50
  We create certainty by being very clear and intentional about
• 26:53
  what we want, our vision for ourselves and doing that inner
• 26:57
  work. Now is the time to be reading
• 27:00
  this book. Totally agree, Sandy, what do
• 27:02
  you think? What do you say?
• 27:03
  Unpacking bliss is is, and I've, I've heard it in using the word
• 27:09
  happiness for so long and having worked with Tony Hsieh and the
• 27:11
  team at delivering happiness. And it's like, oh, that's,
• 27:15
  that's just the happiness lady or that's just a.
• 27:17
  And they, they think of it in terms of the rock star style of
• 27:19
  happiness versus really what, when we think about the
• 27:24
  definition of, of happiness and the definition of joy is, is
• 27:28
  well-being. And so then when we bring the
• 27:31
  word bliss in and why Stacy and I intentionally chose the word
• 27:34
  bliss, unpacking bliss, the suitcase theory of life is that
• 27:38
  bliss is that that piece, right? It's that yeah, that it's not,
• 27:46
  it's not Rockstar. It's not jumping around as a
• 27:50
  cheerleader. Those things are cool too.
• 27:51
  Please do those things. That's that's awesome.
• 27:54
  But bliss is when you find just that deep centered piece of
• 27:58
  yeah, this is this is what life's about.
• 28:02
  And we all have so many of those moments that happen and when we
• 28:08
  can collect those in our suitcase, how much lighter it is
• 28:14
  versus collecting all the shoulds and the woods and the
• 28:17
  not enough's. And so the opportunity to really
• 28:20
  just take our story to give you a little bit of fun and
• 28:25
  anecdotal adventure along the way.
• 28:29
  But to even look at at the key Nuggets and the really the theme
• 28:32
  of the book is to notice, get curious and take aligned action
• 28:38
  at the end of the day, you know, really grow yourself awareness,
• 28:41
  grow yourself advocacy through through yourself regulation and
• 28:46
  understanding that piece is is really important.
• 28:49
  And it's been a game changer for me personally.
• 28:52
  And I know for Stacy as well in, in our own evolutionary journey
• 28:56
  that we weren't, none of us were Born This Way.
• 28:59
  We're evolving as a human species.
• 29:01
  And so we get to hold each other's hands and slime, shine
• 29:04
  the flashlight backwards. When we learn things, we get to
• 29:06
  share. And it's how we we really grow
• 29:10
  in community. And I think that's really
• 29:12
  important and vital as we grow forward as a human race
• 29:15
  alongside of AI, because it's not going anywhere that we
• 29:19
  elevate our consciousness and we take our power back as humans,
• 29:23
  not as task people. We get to be humans and we get
• 29:26
  to connect and collaborate and support one another and
• 29:30
  celebrate one another along the way.
• 29:32
  And really what what this book is about?
• 29:35
  It's beautiful. What I'm hearing you say over
• 29:37
  and over and over again is that the pathway forward is
• 29:41
  connection, self discovery, curiosity and play.
• 29:45
  And somewhere along the way, the world of education lost that.
• 29:50
  And I think that that's a message that we can take into
• 29:52
  corporate America. And I know Sandy, you've done
• 29:54
  that. And Stacey, you're doing that
• 29:56
  into the households and igniting children's love of learning,
• 30:01
  helping them heal. And we even had a conversation
• 30:04
  at dinner on Friday night where you looked at me and you said
• 30:06
  this is what healing generational wounds and patterns
• 30:10
  and traumas looks like and feels like is that we can return to
• 30:13
  joy and love for the sake of joy and love.
• 30:16
  We. Don't need a reason, we just
• 30:18
  kicked me, Duffy. I worked in higher education
• 30:21
  before I was on the money journey.
• 30:23
  And one of the things that I regret the most, I didn't know
• 30:27
  what I didn't know, and I forgive myself for it.
• 30:29
  But I remember walking into high schools telling kids that if
• 30:33
  they got a certain degree, they would make a certain amount of
• 30:37
  money. And I literally as a 23 year old
• 30:39
  kid, went into high schools and sold education based on that
• 30:44
  metric, that if you get this degree, you'll make this amount
• 30:47
  of money. And the thing that I regret the
• 30:49
  most about that is this conversation saying that no, you
• 30:54
  choose education because you love to learn, and working with
• 30:59
  a private liberal arts school and the Honors College was
• 31:01
  structured like a private liberal arts school.
• 31:03
  I'll never forget Doctor Starkweather telling me, Lisa,
• 31:06
  the love of learning is the only reason that we're here.
• 31:09
  And when we and I bring curiosity into money a lot, when
• 31:13
  we have the courage to be curious, when we have the
• 31:16
  courage to look within, when we have the courage to create
• 31:19
  cultures filled with love and not just performance, We create
• 31:23
  worlds, internal realities for students and for teachers and
• 31:27
  administrators, where you show up to a place every day because
• 31:29
  you love to be there for no other reason.
• 31:33
  That's safety. That safety, that's choice.
• 31:36
  That's a world that works. And so really, at the end of the
• 31:39
  day, what Humanized EDUEDU is set out to do is to create a
• 31:43
  world that works. Yes, order out of chaos.
• 31:47
  And really give, give humans their power back, right?
• 31:51
  Just that sense of, of, you know, where is your power?
• 31:55
  And to be able to understand how much is outside of our control,
• 32:00
  but what is within our control? And how do we operate from our
• 32:03
  position of strength? What does it look like in a
• 32:05
  healthy way in order to really create the lives that we love?
• 32:10
  Where do parents fit into this equation?
• 32:12
  I know you're both parents to amazing.
• 32:15
  Children unpacking bliss and and a lot of the stories in there
• 32:18
  for us is our parenting journey, right?
• 32:22
  Our our bumps and bruises along the way.
• 32:25
  And parents are vital. You know it's to be your child's
• 32:34
  champion and advocate and accountability buddy because you
• 32:41
  also get to be partners with their teachers in all facets of
• 32:45
  their life and understanding. Stacey always says it takes a.
• 32:49
  Village. Yeah.
• 32:49
  Stacey, where do you see the parents role fitting in here?
• 32:52
  Well. I think it's really important to
• 32:54
  remember that we as parents are building this social network for
• 32:59
  our children. And the the first question I
• 33:04
  think needs to shift when we go to the pediatrician, when we go
• 33:08
  to a therapist, and it needs to be okay.
• 33:11
  Who is your child connected to? Where are the trusted adults in
• 33:15
  their lives? Because it's that social network
• 33:18
  that will get us through any extreme trauma, chaos,
• 33:23
  disruption in their lives. And so it's, it's time we as
• 33:27
  parents recognize that we are the ones building the village
• 33:31
  around our children's lives. It is no longer embedded or just
• 33:38
  kind of a given any longer, right?
• 33:40
  We're, we're moving and shifting and, and have more of a global
• 33:43
  mindset. And so we need to be more
• 33:46
  intentional around who that is because I know as a parent, when
• 33:51
  things became heavy and I couldn't hold what my child was
• 33:56
  navigating alone, it was important for me to call my
• 34:01
  siblings direct aunt connection, right?
• 34:04
  It was important for me to call colleagues like Lisa Chastain
• 34:08
  and say, OK, they're having a money struggle.
• 34:10
  Who else can I connect them with so that they can figure out
• 34:14
  their best path? And I know that they're getting
• 34:16
  the appropriate wisdom around this.
• 34:19
  And we actually, through humanized Edu, will ensure that
• 34:23
  the parents have a voice in those collective core values of
• 34:26
  the school. Because again, it's all about
• 34:30
  creating that sense of belonging.
• 34:32
  And there's no belonging without everyone and every stakeholder
• 34:37
  invested. Yep, agreed.
• 34:40
  And that we can't address the youth mental health crisis
• 34:42
  without looking at the stakeholders in youth's lives.
• 34:46
  That's. Right.
• 34:48
  Parental burnout is at an all time high.
• 34:51
  Teacher burnout all time high. We have children looking around.
• 34:55
  Going adulthood does not look good.
• 34:58
  Yeah, I'm not opt out. You all are telling me to do it
• 35:02
  this way because that's going to get me to adulthood.
• 35:05
  No, thanks. I'm going to.
• 35:07
  I'm going to go do something that's going to flood my brain
• 35:09
  with dopamine. But we'll have another
• 35:11
  conversation around technology. We'll be back on that.
• 35:13
  We'll come back around to that. You can't the the ultimately
• 35:17
  what you're what I'm hearing you both say is that it takes
• 35:20
  everyone. Yes.
• 35:21
  And that responsibility is everyone's and that the least
• 35:25
  helpful thing that we can be doing.
• 35:27
  My opinion is putting anybody for my kids, sending them to
• 35:31
  school, saying it's the school's responsibility and not my
• 35:34
  responsibility. My sister's an educator.
• 35:36
  I feel like that's one of the conversations that hurting,
• 35:38
  that's hurting us the most. Is it then, then in effect, no
• 35:42
  one takes responsibility and we can't afford that right now.
• 35:45
  So that the real, the real disruption right now is back to
• 35:48
  personal responsibility and that everyone's on the same team for
• 35:52
  the sake of our children, for the sake of our future.
• 35:56
  It is that important. It is that important, which is
• 36:01
  exactly why you're on the show today, because we can't just
• 36:04
  talk about money without talking about the human.
• 36:07
  We can't just talk about education without talking about
• 36:09
  the human. And the two of you are on a
• 36:11
  mission, like you said, Sandy, and this is a mission born from
• 36:16
  your own pain and struggles and worries as parents now
• 36:20
  professionally seeing this happen in schools and with
• 36:23
  administrators. And we're saying there has to be
• 36:26
  a fix, but the fix is not more of the same.
• 36:29
  There has to be a new way. And you have the way, you have
• 36:33
  the way love, compassion, kindness, values, alignment,
• 36:37
  brain wired strength, all the things.
• 36:39
  And if you're, you're listening to this today and going, Oh my
• 36:42
  God, please trust me when I tell you that Sandy and Stacey know
• 36:46
  what they're doing. And if you're looking for a
• 36:49
  solution when it comes to education, we have to in all
• 36:52
  areas of our life right now. We have to look at what's
• 36:55
  working. And this is working, and we have
• 36:58
  to be willing to join the conversation and jump in where
• 37:01
  we can. So, Sandy Stacy, where can
• 37:03
  people find you? Where can people join the
• 37:05
  movement? They can follow at human ICD you
• 37:07
  in all the places. Our Stacy's youngest daughter is
• 37:12
  in charge of all of our social media and branding and she's
• 37:15
  even got us on TikTok, which is a whole thing.
• 37:17
  Apparently we're trying to go viral on TikTok.
• 37:20
  So if you're if you're a TikTok fan, go there.
• 37:23
  Help them go viral. Help us go viral.
• 37:26
  You know my TE DX talk is out as well.
• 37:30
  How the system is breaking teachers.
• 37:32
  Our book Unpacking Bliss. You can follow us on social at
• 37:35
  the Herrera Sisters as well. We're in all the places you can
• 37:38
  go to humanizeddu.com and get the links to everything.
• 37:43
  You just. Even if you have ideas about how
• 37:46
  you envision education, even if you want to somehow give back
• 37:52
  and you don't know how to become invested, just just reach out.
• 37:56
  We at our core are collaborators because we believe that this
• 38:02
  issue is too large for anyone organization, any one person to
• 38:08
  navigate through. And so we're looking to connect
• 38:11
  and we look forward to anyone who reaches out.
• 38:14
  Please reach out Sandy Stacy, what do you want your kids to be
• 38:19
  able to say about their kids futures That's.
• 38:22
  A good question. It is because they're like 20
• 38:25
  somethings now. And so they're just finally at
• 38:27
  that cusp of like, I'm never going to have kids and well,
• 38:30
  maybe when I turn 30, I think so.
• 38:33
  I would love with them to know that there are educational
• 38:40
  options that allow for personalized learning that will
• 38:44
  ignite their child's inner genius in an environment that
• 38:48
  values community, the love of learning, and love.
• 38:55
  And love, Sandy, how about you? I want them to know that they
• 39:00
  have nothing to prove, that they get to trust people, they get to
• 39:07
  follow their heart, they get to focus on relationships, and they
• 39:10
  get to cultivate a life that they love on purpose, aligned to
• 39:16
  the unique little humans that they.
• 39:18
  Are I love that. Thank you both for being here.
• 39:22
  Thank you for both being guiding lights.
• 39:24
  Wrapping up today's conversation, it proves that
• 39:26
  disruption isn't dangerous. It's absolutely necessary.
• 39:29
  And these are two women who are in the thick of it right now in
• 39:32
  the world of education. With nearly $1.6 trillion spent
• 39:37
  on education every year, we cannot afford to keep funding
• 39:40
  systems that aren't serving our kids.
• 39:43
  We need to fund solutions that bring humanity, joy, and
• 39:46
  strength back into schools. To learn more about Stacey and
• 39:50
  Sandy's work, visit humanizeedu.com.
• 39:53
  And remember, real change doesn't start with policy.
• 39:55
  It starts with people. Together, we will disrupt the
• 39:59
  system for good. Thank you for listening to Real
• 40:01
  Money with Lisa Chastain. Follow the show wherever you get
• 40:04
  your podcasts and share this episode with someone who cares
• 40:07
  about the future of education, and we'll see you next time.
• 40:10
  Thank you, Doctor Herrera and Sandy.
• 40:12
  Thank you.